


stars around my scars

by WelcomeToTheBadlands



Series: folklore inspired fics [2]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst and Romance, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bedsharing, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Except I worked really hard on this pls love me, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Mental Health Issues, Mentions of Taylor Swift, Miscommunication, References to Depression, Rey Needs A Hug, Social Anxiety, Vacation, ex-lovers, high school sweethearts, i really don't know what to tag, oh no we've been reunited? is this fate?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:07:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25614829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WelcomeToTheBadlands/pseuds/WelcomeToTheBadlands
Summary: "I knew you, tried to change the ending, Peter losing Wendy..."High school sweethearts Ben and Rey broke things off when Ben left to go to college several states away. Five years later, they up sitting next to one another on a plane, headed to the same vacation spot. Will this chance meeting lead to a rekindled romance?
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: folklore inspired fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1847848
Comments: 11
Kudos: 39





	stars around my scars

**Author's Note:**

> Thank darthswift13 for writing the summary because I can't come up with one for the life of me. If you like my work check out more of my stories and follow me @kirasbens on Twitter, you can also support me by leaving a comment.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **  
> “Ben?” Rey felt her chest tighten as she said his name. What the hell was going on right now? How were they even in the same area at the moment? And what was the chance that the two of them would be sitting next to each other? Rey hadn’t seen Ben Solo in a while. “Hey, how are you doing?”  
> **
> 
> **  
> “Great,” Rey squeaked.  
> **
> 
> **  
> That was a lie.  
> **
> 
>   
> 
> 
> **  
> In that second, Rey felt like she was being split open with a dull knife as Ben sat down next to her. He looked so good right next to her. Happy. She wondered if he had made something of his life after he had gone off to college. He probably had a girlfriend now and a good job that made him happy. He probably had a dog just like he wanted. “Wow,” Ben said, “it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”  
> **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"You know the greatest loves of all time are over now..."_
> 
> Some things to know about this fic: Rey and Ben are both not reliable narrators, so the original breakup scene isn't exactly what happened. There will be more flashbacks that will lead up to the context of the breakup throughout the fic. Also, I would really enjoy if you left me some feedback. 
> 
> I worked really hard on this fic.

_Before_

The day that Rey got her heart broken, it was the middle of July, and she had been putting it off for most of the summer. She and Ben had both graduated high school earlier in the summer, and the two of them were pretending like nothing was going to happen. But Rey had remembered seeing an acceptance letter to Columbia in Ben’s car. She hadn’t said anything. She was a little bit sad that Ben hadn’t said anything to her at all, but she knew what was coming. He was going to leave her.

She had been expecting it all summer, and today was no different. The heat was oppressive, and Rey had only been outside for about ten minutes, but she was already feeling herself start to sweat. Birds chirped in the trees all around her and the sun shone so brightly that if it wasn’t for the knot in Rey’s stomach and the heat, she might’ve been having a good day. Rey looked at her phone about forty times before she finally saw him.

Ben was late. Again.

But it wasn’t like that wasn’t uncommon, he was usually forty minutes behind his own schedule at all times. It was something that Rey had to learn how to deal with. “Hey,” She smiled, but it faltered when she looked at his face. It was happening today. “How are you doing?”

“Good,” He said, “I couldn’t find a place to park,” There were so many SUVs moving in and out of the parking lot that it was hectic, the giggling kids running away from their parents without a second thought had often made it difficult to find a place to park anywhere near Takodana, but Rey and Ben had always made a habit to come here at least once a week and just talk with each other.

“Yeah, it’s pretty hectic today.”

Ben shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at her. He was trying to smile, but Rey could see the sadness in her eyes. The pit in her stomach only got worse. “Can we walk a little?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Rey said curtly. There was a little trail that led into a woodsier area behind the park that was perfect hiding grounds for stupid teenagers to hide out and be gross with their boyfriends and girlfriends, away from the eyes of adults.

This was where the two of them were going to break up, Rey knew it. “So,” Ben started when the two of them were out of earshot of most of the parents that were supervising their children, “I got accepted to Columbia.”

“Yeah?” Rey feigned being surprised.

“Yeah,”

“That’s amazing, Ben. I’m so proud of you,” Ben swallowed a lump in his throat and looked at her and she knew what he was going to say. There was this sinking feeling in her stomach as she realized what was going to happen next. The two of them had talked about this before, about what would happen if Ben got accepted and went away. Rey had wanted to believe that he would want to stay. She really did, but of course, reality never worked out the way that she wanted it to. “You want to break up, don’t you?” She didn’t cry, she didn’t let her voice break when she asked him that question. She just clenched her fists, knuckles turning white.

“Rey, I—I want this to work. I think that you could get a good scholarship to a school in New York and we could still see each other.”

“You know that I can’t do that, Ben. The likelihood of me getting a full ride somewhere isn’t a lot, and even with a partial scholarship I couldn’t afford tuition and boarding at any university basically.”

Ben was silent and nodding. Rey felt like she was going to throw up. But she wasn’t going to cry. ‘ _Relationships in high school don’t last,’_ she thought to herself. It was supposed to be a comforting thought. It really wasn’t, though. “You’re right,” Ben said. “We can still be friends though, right?”

“Right,” Rey said.

She turned away from him before he could say anything else, going back to her car without another word. She could tell that a chapter of her life was ending that she didn’t want to close yet, and the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to cry. Tears welled up in her eyes and she just sobbed, for as long as she could before she was exhausted and couldn’t cry anymore.

After a few minutes of heavy breathing, she gathered all of her strength up and left the park.

**

_After_

Rey Niima had never flown a day in her life. She had no idea what to do when she had driven to the airport with two bags full of luggage that she had painstakingly taken hours to pack. She had to ask one of the employees up at the front what she was supposed to do and endure the look she got while they explained the whole TSA process to her. She didn’t mind, though. She would rather look a little bit stupid asking what to do than make a stupider mistake and miss her flight. She had gotten through TSA without any problems and found a seat to wait for her departure. She put her headphones in to try and drown out the sound around her. She knew that she was early and she didn’t need to check in yet, so she tried to allow herself enough time to calm down.

It had been nearly a year since she had started saving up for this vacation, taking extra shifts on all of her jobs. She was sure that she had been sleeping about two hours each night, and most days her hands shook and there was a permanent taste of coffee in her mouth. She wasn’t quite sure how she had managed to do it, but she did. 

Rey let the music wash out her environment and felt like she could finally breathe. The next two hours went by faster than Rey thought that they would. Rey finally got checked in and got on the plane. It was the first time that she had gotten to fly on a plane, and she had managed to get first-class due to the amount of money that she saved up. A lot of her nerves turned into excitement as she looked out of the window, thinking that she could finally get a little bit of peace and quiet on this vacation.

She thought about all the times she had fantasies about being able to take a break. It was well deserved, although she had realized that she had no idea what to do with herself now that she wasn’t going to have to deal with work. 

Her excitement quickly died, though. Before the plane even started, because as the others boarded the plane and were looking for their seats, she heard a very familiar voice, “ _Rey?_ ” Her stomach dropped the second that she heard his voice. She turned up to see a tall figure dressed in a black sweater and jeans standing right above her putting his carry on in the luggage container. “Rey, is that you?”

“Ben?” Rey felt her chest tighten as she said his name. What the hell was going on right now? How were they even in the same area at the moment? And what was the chance that the two of them would be sitting next to each other? Rey hadn’t seen Ben Solo in a while. “Hey, how are you doing?”

“Great,” Rey squeaked.

That was a lie.

In that second, Rey felt like she was being split open with a dull knife as Ben sat down next to her. He looked so good right next to her. Happy. She wondered if he had made something of his life after he had gone off to college. He probably had a girlfriend now and a good job that made him happy. He probably had a dog just like he wanted. “Wow,” Ben said, “it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it has.” Rey didn’t understand how he could just look so happy to see her again. Especially after what had happened the last time, she saw him. She supposed that he had gotten over it, that this was just a problem that she would have to deal with, and she was being stupid, as usual. She didn’t say anything though. She kept a smile plastered on her face and tried to keep Ben convinced that she was happy to see him. 

He pursed his lips and seemed to figure out that she might be a little bit uncomfortable. “Are you okay?” He asked. “I can ask the stewardess if I can sit somewhere else,” She was tempted to tell him that that would be for the best, but she just shook her head no. 

“It’s fine,” She said, “I uh—I’m just stressed. I haven’t flown before. Ever. So, yeah.” The soft smile that washed over his expressions made Rey’s heart flutter a little. She bit the inside of her cheek, and hard. Trying to remember all of the reasons why she should not feel the way she was feeling right now. 

“You’ll be okay,” Ben said, “I have some Dramamine if that would help?” 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, just for the motion sickness and all that. It might make you a little bit sleepy,” 

“That’s not a problem,” Rey said. Ben smiled at her and rifled through his bag for the Dramamine, giving it to her along with a water bottle that he had probably gotten at the gift shop. “Oh, uh—I can just wait for them to come by with drinks.” 

“I mean, it’s fine.” 

“It is your water though.” 

“Rey, seriously. It’s fine.” Rey just took a deep breath and opened the water bottle, popping one of the pills in her mouth and taking a swig of the water. She screwed the cap back on and the two of them were quiet for a minute. She was grateful that they started the safety presentation and Rey had an excuse to not talk. She was still trying to figure out how the chances of this happening were even possible. Just when she had thought that she was never going to see Ben Solo again, here he was right next to her. He seemed happy though. The way that he smiled at her was a lot different than the way it had been back when they were both kids. 

When the safety presentation was over, Ben turned his attention back towards her. “Are you okay?” He asked her. Rey noticed that he smiled a lot more in those twenty minutes that the two of them were next to each other than she remembered him smiling on a regular day when they were in high school. 

“Yeah, uh—I think I’m fine.” They were finally starting to lift off. Rey was white-knuckling her armrests and Ben looked away from her, still smiling. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to survive the rest of this plane trip. She was already wondering if maybe this was her karma for finally taking time off to herself. She tried to shake off that line of thinking. 

**

_Before_

Rey had always been the type of person to accept any type of challenge that came at her head-on. Ever since Ben had met her, he always thought that she was way out of his league. Rey was passionate and kind and way smarter than Ben could ever hope to be. 

Ben was good at skating by in his classes, and in his life. Yes, he had good grades. But he never challenged himself. Ben was considered one of the more mild delinquents in the school. He had an attitude problem and lacked common sense. Rey was the teacher’s assistant in his English and he thought she was perfect. 

She was always perfect. 

**

_Now_

The past few months had been stressful for Ben, to say the least. Working a dead-end job where nothing exciting ever happened except for his boss taking delight in yelling at him took its toll on him. Ben had been hired at a business firm right out of college and had taken the job thinking that he could get higher in the ranks and make a name for himself. 

What happened instead was Ben realizing that he didn’t want to be in the field he was in now. Ben realized that there wasn’t anything particularly special about him, and there was nothing special about the people that worked for the First Order either. He quit his job, having a lot of money saved up and a lot of inheritance to be able to blow through. 

He got therapy, and then he went home to see his mother and father. He stayed there for a few months, mending relationships that had previously been broken. He had asked his mother if he knew anything about Rey, and unfortunately, she didn’t. “Unfortunately she deleted all her social media a while back,” Leia had told him. “And I think she also changed her number. I don’t know where she is.” 

Ben was sad, but he hoped that she was somewhere nice doing something that she loved to do. Hopefully, she had a house out by the sea and was writing the next best novel and he would see her name in the bookstore when he passed by one day. He’d go to the bookstore sometimes hoping that he would see, ‘ _Written by Rey Niima’_ on the cover of one of the books in the New Bestseller section. 

He never did. 

Eventually Ben wanted to get away, go on a vacation. Both Leia and Han were very supportive of that. He didn’t expect to see her. 

The first time that Ben saw Rey again, his heart stopped a little. He thought he was hallucinating for a minute as he was putting his bags up. She was even more beautiful than the last time that he had seen her. Her hair was a little bit longer, pulled back in a ponytail. She was wearing a sweater that Ben had given her a while ago. “Rey, is that you?” He asked. He knew that he probably shouldn’t be this happy to see her again. 

Still, he was. She gave him a shy smile and the two of them started speaking, and something was different. Maybe it was because Rey wasn’t expecting to see him, maybe she felt like it was awkward being sat right next to him again, but there was just something in her eyes that looked so sad. It was something that Ben had never noticed in her before when the two of them had been together. They lifted off the ground and he could see Rey clutching her armrests. 

“You okay?” He asked. 

“Yeah,” Rey said, “I’m fine.”

“I’m not making you uncomfortable, am I?” 

“No, Ben.” She smiled at him and he felt a little more relaxed. “Trust me I just—if I could drive to where I need to get to I would, but I’ve never flown before so I’m just a bit nervous. But I think that the Dramamine is kicking in so I should relax in a few minutes,” 

“I get that,” Ben told her, “I was pretty nervous the first time that I went flying.” 

Rey’s smile faltered a little and he already wondered if he was doing something wrong. “So, uh. How’s life been going?” 

“Oh, it’s been going,” Rey told him. That was all that she really said. There were no elaborate details, but Ben reminded himself that he wasn’t entitled to that anymore. He was just making small talk right now, wanting to catch up with someone that he wished was still around him on a day to day basis. “How about you?” 

“About the same,” Ben told her, “just wanted to take a vacation. Which I guess is kind of weird because it’s nowhere near a Holiday.” 

“I mean, October is a month and a half away, I guess you could qualify it as a Halloween vacation.” 

“I guess you’re right, although I feel like that’s one of the weirdest times to do that. So what about you? Where are you going?” 

“Uh, I’m also taking a vacation,” Rey said. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, there’s this lodge or retreat. I don’t really know what to call it, but uh that’s where I’m going. I just really needed to relax and it looked really nice and around nature, so—” 

Ben didn’t know why he immediately found it weird that Rey described it like that. A lot of retreats were the same way, either near the beach or in a really nice wooded area. It was too cold to go to the beach, so the woods were one of the best places to go on a vacation at this time of year. “Coruscant Resort?” 

“Yeah,” Rey said. 

“No way,” Ben said, “that’s where I’m going too.”

"Oh shit," 


End file.
